[StBernard] Taffaro To Archdiocese: Clean Up Or Pay Up

[Westley Annis]

Taffaro To Archdiocese: Clean Up Or Pay Up

MEAREAUX, La. -- St. Bernard Councilman Craig Taffaro wants the Archdiocese
of New Orleans to clean up or pay up.

At the center of a fight between the two bodies is St. Bernard Manor, a
complex that before Hurricane Katrina had 240 apartments for senior
citizens.

"Many of them still have refrigerators and food left from the storm. The
mold has taken over the building," Taffaro said.

The archdiocese said it's doing what it can to fix the property.

"What we can do is gut the first floor and also repair all of the roofs, and
that's what we've done," the Rev. William Maestri said.

But he said the archdiocese simply can't afford to repair all five floors.

"We estimate that it will be about $5 million to do that, and what we're
doing now right now is, we're looking for a funding source," Maestri said.

Taffaro said the buildings were condemned in October 2006 and he wants to
force the archdiocese to act by fining it $100 for every unit -- or $24,000
-- each day.

Even understanding that the archdiocese doesn't plan to reopen St. Bernard
Manor, Taffaro said the complex should be immediately cleaned and secured.

"This is a priority for the archdiocese, but at this particular time, we
have to locate the funding in order to do that," Maestri said.